A psychiatrist testified at an inquiry that he should in retrospect have consulted a colleague before posting $65,000 in bail for accused murderer Shirley Turner.

John Doucet told a tribunal of the Newfoundland and Labrador College of Physicians and Surgeons that he acted out of compassion for Turner and a genuine concern for her well-being.

Shirley Turner drowned herself and her son Zachary in August 2003.
Shirley Turner drowned herself and her son Zachary in August 2003.

Doucet posted bail in late 2001 for Turner.

In August 2003, Turner killed herself and her 13-month-old son while waiting to be extradited to the United States on charges of murdering her former boyfriend and the father of her child.

Turner, a Newfoundland-raised medical doctor who trained at Memorial University but was practising in the United States, was wanted in Pennsylvania for the murder of fellow physician Andrew Bagby.

David Bagby (file image)
David Bagby (file image)

Bagby had been shot to death in the parking lot of a Pennsylvania state park in 2001.

Turner fled to Canada before a warrant was issued for her arrest. When she became Doucet's patient in November 2001, she was fighting against extradition to the United States.

A month later, Doucet posted her bail.

Bagby's parents complained to the College of Physicians and Surgeons, arguing that Doucet should not have posted Turner's bail while he was her psychiatrist.

"He was Shirley Turner's treating physician, psychiatrist, and he didn't acknowledge the danger that's implicit in someone that's accused of murder," said David Bagby, Andrew Bagby's father.

The Newfoundland Supreme Court ordered that Turner be sent back to jail in 2002, after a ruling that cleared the way for her to be sent back to the U.S. for trial.

Turner was again released on bail, but in that case Doucet was not involved. In August 2003, Turner drowned herself and her 13-month-old son, Zachary.

Kathleen Bagby, Andrew Bagby's mother, said she hopes the hearing will help provide ethical guidelines to other doctors.

"We just wanted a public announcement of, is this ethical, would it be advisable to do this if a doctor is in this situation again?"

"That to us is the critical thing, that other professional practitioners learn from this experience, how to deal with a patient of the manipulative capability of Shirley Turner," David Bagby said.

Doucet said he feels terrible about the tragic outcome, but maintained there was never a lapse in his duties as Turner's psychiatrist.

The tribunal will release a written decision at an undisclosed time.